Track Cleaning Tankers

[Railnut13]

Would like to hear from anyone who may have a track cleaning car regarding efficiency and effectiveness.  Thanks.

[Rangerover1944]

I'm looking at this one, I have never heard anything but good about it. A little pricey...
http://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/product.php?productid=226001&cat=42&page=1

[Tedshere]

    Good question railnut!!  I've wondered if any of them were worth their salt. I have one, but don't have enough experience in the hobby to know how much you can rely on them. Thanks for asking, I'll be watching this thread.
    Ted

[CNE Runner]

Rangerover1944 - I have the CMX track cleaning tank car; but am selling it at one of our Spring shows. The car is extremely well made (mostly of brass) and is very heavy. The car is so heavy that my little GE 45 Ton locomotive simply can't pull it (it just sits there and spins its wheels). I have pushed the car throughout the layout via my standby 0-5-0 and it did an excellent job cleaning.

A cheaper (and lighter) alternative is the IHC track cleaning caboose. This device is much cheaper made; but is lighter and gets the job done. The only complaint I have is that the needle valve seems to dispense too much track cleaning fluid - regardless of how far one closes the valve. I simply use a pipette (medicine dropper) to put some cleaning fluid on the pad and go from there (with the size of the Monks Island Railway, I don't have to re-wet the pad). As far as I know, the IHC car is no longer in production - but can be readily had on eBay.

Ray

[jettrainfan]

The CMX tanker does areally good job, but like CNE runner said, its heavy. My bachmann 4-8-4 slips when trying to haul it and can barely haul it up a hill! Now, my solution is a 15 car train, a 4-8-4 and a 2-10-2 to double head, with the tanker in between the locos to look like a water tender, it can keep tracl speed, and you don't have to worry about stalling on the hill. Looks pretty good too, heard the atlas track cleaning car was good too, seen a few for sale for the price of a CMX tanker.

[WoundedBear]

I bought one of the Bachmann tank car cleaners when Micro-Mark had them on sale. It's heavy as well, but really doesn't do a thorough job of it. I still find the "black gunk" here and there. It's good for keeping light dust off your rails between manual cleanings. I've also noticed that track cleaning cars really don't do a proper job on turnouts either.

I still prefer to go over my layout about once every 6 months with a Peco rail cleaner bar and shine everything up. This also makes you look at every single inch of your track. Minor imperfections, like loose track nails or sloppy point rails, can be noted and corrected before they turn into major problems. After that, a few drops of ATF around the layout, and run a few trains to spread it out.

The best thing I've done to help keep the layout clean, was buy an air purifier/filter unit and leaving it in the layout room running 24/7.

Sid

[PiedmontRR]

Anyone using a "Bright Boy?"

[CNE Runner]

Yes, I still use a Bright Boy cleaner (I guess it is hard for us old guys to change). I find the Bright Boy works better if I run the IHC Track Cleaning Caboose over the rails after using the pad. Like Sid, I have a Sharper Image static precipitator (cleaner) running 24/7...'really helps.

Additionally I have found that cleaning all the rolling stock wheels, at least once a year, goes a long way in keeping the 'gunk' off the rails. I like to clean the GE 45 Ton's wheels once a month. To accomplish this task I first use a Kadee wheel cleaner to remove any accumulation. This procedure is followed by running one engine truck at a time on a cleaner-soaked paper towel or USED fabric softener sheet. A good idea it to buff the cleaned wheel on a dry piece of towel or f.s. sheet.

Ray